Sacramento daily record-union. [volume] (Sacramento [Calif.]) 1875-1891, 1887-07-02
SACRAMENTAN ABROAD.
| Farms and Farm Life in Louisiana-In-
| dolence of the PeopIe-Etc.


SAN MATEo Ella }, June 20, 1887.
EDS. RECORD UNION: l closed my last
letter one week ago at the point of reach
ing Louisiana. Soon after passing Mar
shall, Texas, Caddo Parish is reached, which
is in the northwestern part of the State
The land is generally poor, most of it is
covered with scrub pine, post oak and I'M
derbrush. 1t is a very fiat country, the
creeks and river bottoms are generally low
and swampy, heavily timbered with va
rious kinds of swamp oaks, pecan, sweet
gum and cypress. All along the road you
will see little patches cleared out OF the
| timber, which they call farms, usually con-
sisting OF from five to twenty acres, with
miserable hut, usually built up of round
logs, and which, so constructed, they call
houses. These little patches are usually
planted TO cotton but sometimes to corn.
rice, or sweet potatoes.
On these little places large families are
eking out a miserable living. About one
hall OF the population are negroes. They
often have little places of their own, but
oftener make their living by working for
the whites at about fifty cents per day and
are usually paid in cornmeal and fat bacon.
They are usually nearly naked, and look
half starved, but still appear to be perfectly
happy. All they want or aspire 10 is
mere living or existence. | am told that
the younger generations are very indolent.
| though the most of them are trying TO get
some sort of an education. There are
| plenty of colored schools and they are gen.
orally well attended. The colored people
are mostly religious, or at least professedly
| so.
The whites are also happy-go-ea SC TT
| Nf naODip arNr,araufl.r a.
existence. IL does seem to me that the
| people IN louisiana have seriously retro
| graded. The old farms that was familiar
with when child are many of them not
| III as good condition now as then. There
is this apology, however, for that people
They live in a poor country, where they
have but few natural advantages, their
| land is either poor pine flats or swamp
| land, subject TO overflow most every year.
Most of the upland is so poor that ii will
not raise more than three or four crops till
it is worn out, unless they fertilize very
heavily. ! saw hundreds of old fields that
| had been abandoned because they were too
poor to produce
The farmers there are all owned by the
country merchant. and they in turn By the
| New Orleans merchants. The credit sys-
| tenn is universal The farmer depends
! upon the merchant to advance him the
| means with which TO make his crop; then
the merchant dictates what he shall plant,
and forces him to plant only cotton, as
that is the only crop upon which the mer-
chant can realize money. Then he forces
the farmer to buy his meat and bread from
him. | Ii We never seen or heard of any
set of farmers so completely in the power
| of the merchant as are these Louisiana
! growers. / presume it is not 50 bad on the
large sugar and cotton plantations on the
lower Mississippi.
After passing Baton Rouge-the Capital
of the State-from there to New Orleans,
there are some very fine plantation, having
the appearance of wealth and indepen-
dence. Some of these places are very beau
tiful Baton Rouge is very nice little
city. The State house presents very fine
appearance. The architecture is very diff
ferent from anything had before seen.
New Orleans is, as your readers well
know. large city, and quite business
place. The Custom-house is magnificent
structure, but the great msjority of the
buildings are old and sntiquated The
streets are narrow, flat and dirty, and upon
| the whole, there is little to admire in the
| Crescent City. In my next | will say
something about Florida
ROBERT WILLIAMSON.